Defending champions, San Beda Red Lions, officially clinched a Final Four seat for the 12th straight year as they defeated the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers, 65-60 on Friday in the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Despite the win, San Beda Coach Boyet Fernandez hopes for the team to learn from its game as they lost 27 points by the third quarter, just after leading by as much as 18 points in the first half, 28-10.
“It’s really our defense that really helped us win this game. The worst thing that happened was when we gave up 27 points in the third quarter,” said Fernandez. “We have to learn how to take good care of the basketball for us to be consistent in our ball games.”
Thanks to clutch shots by Javee Mocon and Davon Potts, the Red Lions outlasted the Heavy Bombers in the final minutes of the game.
Potts made back-to-back triples with 3:14 left to play, that edged San Beda to a 62-57 lead. A miss from the free throw line by Ervin Grospe led Mocon for a bucket and extended their lead to 64-57, only a minute left on the clock.
A Grospe jumper cut back their deficit to four, but teammate Aaron Bordon made a crucial mistake that turned the ball over to Donald Tankoua, who capped off the game.
“If we lost the game, the blame is on me. It is my fault and credit to Coach Vergel Meneses and JRU for playing a good game,” added Fernandez.
San Beda’s win also secured the Lyceum Pirates a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four as JRU suffered their third loss and dropped to a 7-6 card, holding on to the solo third.
Mocon powered San Beda with a double-double 19 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, while Tankoua had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Potts went for a 4-of-8 down the three point line, to finish with 14 points.
Meanwhile, Jed Mendoza led JRU with 16 points and Abdulwahab Abdulrazak added 11 points and nine rebounds.
